1. Field
The presently disclosed embodiment relates to the general field of means for transferring energy from a producing source to a receiver. It more specifically relates to the field of means for remotely charging batteries.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
The use of autonomous mobile devices supplied with electrical power by batteries is nowadays becoming widespread. There remain, however, significant problems to be solved in this field concerning autonomy. Specifically, taking into account the dimensions of the object in question and its electrical power consumption, the implementation of a battery conferring sufficient energy autonomy to this object is sometimes difficult to achieve, the desired autonomy requiring a battery whose dimensions are not compatible with those of the object.
Consequently, when designing such objects, it is generally necessary to reach a compromise between the desired autonomy and the dimensions, or mass, of the object. This compromise demands that the object in question be capable of finding a power supply source in the area in which it is moving, failing which the object is taken out of service. Moreover, this source must be capable of charging the battery supplying power to the object in a timescale that is compatible with the conditions of use of this object.
To solve this problem, a known solution consists in making battery swapping stations available to users, these stations being widely distributed across the movement area of the objects and having a wide range of batteries available in order to cater to the wide range of supply voltages of these objects (DC or AC).
An alternative solution consists in making charging points available to users, these charging points being suitable for the objects in question and their usage, cell phones, laptop computers or automotive vehicles, in particular. However, owing to the mobile character of these objects and the wide range of supply voltages of these objects, it is necessary to reduplicate the charging points or, failing that, to implement “universal” charging points that are capable of charging a wide range of objects in timescales compatible with their conditions of use.
Another alternative solution consists in equipping the object in question with portable or transportable charging means, a charger, depending on the case, allowing the user to charge the battery of the object from a standard electrical power supply source, such as the mains voltage, so that due to wide distribution of the mains voltage, there is no need to implement tailored charging points. However, such a solution demands that the user transport the charger of the object. It also demands that the mains voltage be sufficiently high to allow quick charging.
Besides the constraints described above, the three solutions described in the preceding paragraphs furthermore generally demand that the user place the object in question in the vicinity of the power supply source. Specifically, charging is generally carried out by means of an electrical cable, which is necessarily of limited length, or, alternatively, by means of an induction transfer device that requires that the object be placed facing an inductive element that is itself placed in the vicinity of the source to which it is connected. The mobile object is thereby immobilized for the duration of charging.